Welcome abroad!

The staff welcomes you and we are happy to have you around. If you are new and reading this then you are definitely in the right place!

Somewhere down along the lines now, there must have been a fleeting thought that comes with joining any new role playing community: what’s the etiquette and rules like here? As in, what’s considered pretty rude or downright unacceptable, or generally accepted by the community? What's expected out of every member?

Look no further, this article will sum up a few different points that are expected of your behaviour. There’s really nothing to it other than common sense and politeness.

Keywords and abbreviations:

Here is a list of abbreviations we mostly use in the server. These are to be used when not roleplaying, that is either on the forums, IRC or whenever you are talking to a person concerning the server AdventRO. Of course this is only for your personal knowledge as so you will not feel too left out if you are still new to roleplay, so please feel free to refer to the respectful elements to their full name if you find it awkward.

Short-Term References

Description

IC

In-character; this is used when you are referring to events and anything that happened to your character or something your character did, not yourself as the player.

OOC

Out-of-character; this is used when you are referring to things that just did not happen or your character did not act it out, but referring to you as the Player. Use @OOC command before your saying. Example: @ooc text goes here

IG

In-game; used to refer when you are logged on the client.

IRL

In real life; we all know this

PVP

Player versus Player; same as above

MVP

Most valuable Player; same as above, but some may also say it is Monster versus Player.

GM

Game Master; a person in-charge and works more on the technical stuff of the Server.

ST

Storyteller; a person in-charge and works more on the plot-lines of the Server.

Server Rules

General

This section has general rules about what the server is in general and general conduct overall, so please read carefully.

This is a Role-Playing Server

This means that all of your stats, items, levels, cards, equips and weapons don't matter to anyone unless they were earned while role playing (more about this in the powergaming section). This means that it is unnecessary to grind for levels or items or kill MVPs to be notable here.

We follow the Moderated role-play format

Free-form format is where you can do whatever you want and do stuff that basically are purely yours as there is probably no fixed setting, however this is not Advent's case. Moderated format means that you are free to give your character a personality, a life, egos, goals and aims however there is moderated control on Races, High Statuses and Subplots.
When it comes to creating races that are not listed under "Natural Races" and stories that will involve a large amount of players, approval is required. Advent's story is nowhere near the original storyline of Ragnarok Online, therefore it is advised that you read the rest of the wiki slowly and whenever you have time. The races of Advent also hold certain characteristics that might be easily abused, therefore are kept under certain control from the STs. Of course, we're not asking you to read the rest of the wiki right now!
However we do expect you to know at least the basics of the story settings once you settle down in the server. We've put our heart and souls into what we built and wrote, therefore we have every right to expect you as a player to know our game~

This server is rated 15+

Well, why ever for? We all know that there are various forms of roleplay stories and such out there, but this server has mature players and there are several elements that might not be suitable to anyone under the age of 15. This is the following list of what gives this server such a rating, however we must also mention that all of these listed below are heavily moderated:

Human Trafficking

Drugs

Violence

Sexual themes

Use of improper language

Community Rules

Respecting your STs and GMs

We STs and GMs do not like to act like they are the omnipotent people of the server as we believe in merging with the rest of the community, however we do expect for a certain degree of respect. As we like to chat and talk just like everybody else, we have a server to keep in order, a life to live and an individual personality. We may not always be available and we might not always be in a good mood as we are human too, therefore we ask you to please be patient with us. We also manage this server voluntarily, so we expect at least a certain amount of politeness when discussing server issues and matters.
Most of us are also either students in college or busy with personal matters, therefore we ask you to please respect our privacy. We have a certain amount of work to be obtained and contacts not to lose, however we do promise one thing: we are around quite often everyday.
On a related note I would like to point out that having a friendly relationship with an ST or GM will not guarantee you a safe position; we treat everyone equally, new and old player alike, therefore if you are in wrong we will calmly correct you and if it persists, measures will be taken against whatever the situation is. We admire and appreciate honesty, but not relationships for server bonus no.

Respecting your fellow members

We cannot stress how important it is to respect the members present in our community! We are a friendly community that will welcome any player from anywhere in the world and will understand if you have a difficulty in understanding English (after all, the owners themselves do not have English as their native language), however there is a difference between genuine improper use of English and blatant abuse of such a fact, sarcastic humor rather than cruel sarcastic. Honesty is what we seek however cruelty is not tolerated; we can take action against any harassment and abuse on other players if it is disturbing the peace of the community, so please be careful how you put your words. You don't have to be polite, only respectful!

In-Character/Client Roleplay Rules

You're always in character

In Advent, as soon as you log in, you are by default in character, or "IC." To be out of character is to be "OOC."

If you have to talk in OOC, it should be pertaining only to what is happening ICly. If you’re helping someone out, or asking a question that has nothing to do with the RP, PM the person you want to discuss this with—otherwise, it disrupts the role play going on. We aren't zero-tolerance about this, and will give you a friendly reminder if the OOC banter gets too off-topic.

However, guild and party chat can either be IC or OOC depending upon the general consensus of the guild/party — as long as the OOC talk pertains to Ragnarok Online, AdventRO, role playing, or any such related things. OOC should never be used in-game to chat about your real life. If a party/guild has agreed that their party/guild chat is to be IC-only for the duration of the RP, then this must be respected and OOC talk will not be permitted.

Keep AFK to a minimum

We really wish that you would not go away from your keyboard (or "AFK" as most call it) whilst in the middle of a role-play. Unless you really, really can't help it due to the situation, at least be sure to put up a chat room (you'd type /chat in game) saying ((AFK)) in a non-interrupting area. It's disrupting and discourteous to go AFK smack-dab in the middle of a busy area or where others are role playing. However, if you need to ((brb)) very quickly, that is perfectly acceptable! Hey, did you think we weren't going to let you get up to go to the bathroom or something?

You're always being watched

Assume you are always under surveillance OOCly, and usually ICly (obviously this does not apply if your character is in their home, or a barren desert, or other non-populated area). Cities have guards and policemen everywhere, just like in real life. Your character can get sent to jail, too. No matter how diabolical your villain is, you can't expect to easily get away with murdering in clear sight or arriving blood-stained with the guts of your enemy on your blade as you take a seat on the park bench. There is also a bounty system, with real rewards and real players who are after the bounties of villains. This makes for a more realistic and fun role play.

Character names

Advent, being a role playing server, should certainly hold a diversely-named community. However, we are playing the roles of a character’s life, as in, role playing—yes? I know, I know, there have been reports of people naming their actual, real, children such things as Loki_663 (no, really) but as for the rest of the world, we have first and last names; so please give your character such as well—unless they are using an alias, or forgot their last name, or some other strange circumstance.

I would also like to note on names from popular culture. You really have no idea how upset the staff would be with you if you named your character Naruto or Chuck Norris. Please, be creative and original with your names. Names should give meaning to who the character is, and can reflect on their culture as well.
And as a reminder, Japanese suffixes do not exist in Advent. This means no Yumiko-chan or whatever else examples.

One last thing on names: Your character cannot know other character's name just by reading it under their sprite. Your character must interact with other characters to get to know them (unless of course your character's story already includes other people, thus your own character will have previous knowledge of the names of other people).
On a semi-related note, your character cannot tell what job another characters are just by seeing what sprite clothes they appear in. Never assume that the sprite appearance is exactly how the character appears.

Keep role playing realistic

We all know Advent is a fantasy world for our creativity, imaginations and all of that fun stuff, but this community is a bit more mature, for the sake of logic and reason. It is fair to point out that Advent is like our lives nowadays; it has daily problems and political turmoils, human trafficking and drug dealing, happy moments and good times…except that it has magic and fantasy equipped with it and when we say magic and fantasy, we're really not referring to the Anime kind.

Your character shouldn’t return from battle completely unharmed and clean, not everyone in Advent is beautiful, super-model thin and attractive (even if you’re a succubus/incubus!), and take into the account the things that hinder you daily. It really can make RP a lot less boring. People can get sick, or have their battle wounds infected days later (your average magic healing should not 100% clean and close a wound), they could go blind or disabled, or just stubbed their toe. Keep these sort of things in mind.

With that being said, we really must insist that you try your very best to play your character’s reaction correctly. There is no way that a group of people, no matter how battle-hardened they are, would not be psychologically affected by trudging into a cave full of 8-foot tall, hugely muscular zombie orcs equipped with weapons and a hunger for your character’s delicate living flesh. Think about it, please—we understand that sometimes, players get caught up in the heat of the plot and forget to make their character act as how a real person would act to the situation, but we find it very important that you exert your best effort to make realism a habit. PLEASE!

Races Approvals

You cannot create a character that is any race besides human, orcs, faeries, or elves without sending a filled out approval to the correct ST. In order to send an approval for any race besides the aforementioned, you must have already been role playing in Advent for two weeks (14 days). The pages Races and Races and Status Approvals tell you all you need to know about how this system works, and information on the races as well as which STs handle which approvals.

High-Status Characters approval

Just like the Races, these will require an approval from the Approval ST required. To read more about approvals, please visit Races and Status Approvals page.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock'n'Roll

Ah, yes. Three great sins of life that almost everyone seems to be after. Actually, this is only about drugs and sex; rock'n'roll is perfectly acceptable ICly. We strongly ask that the players use courtesy and moderation with these subjects ICly. For one thing, Advent has a number of drugs used for medicine and illegal purposes, but none of them exist in real life (except for alcohol, nicotine and caffeine). And please, no parachuting nutmeg either. For more information, see the drugs & illnesses page.

On the subject of Sex: cybering is not permitting in the server, even in a private home or in a PM. This can be awkward and uncomfortable for most people. If you and whomever else you are role playing with really wish to depict more X-rated role play, take it to a IRC PM or other form of private messaging not within the Advent server.
However, we do realise that sex is usually a mandatory part of life at some point in time. It's just baby-creating and showing affection after all. If your character is "totally going to score tonight in bed", just role play up until the point where you'd, ahem, start "doin' it" and then announce OOCly that the act will just be skipped, and we can assume all went well and everyone was satisfied.

God-modding, powergaming, metagaming

You already knew we were going to go on a detailed explanation why these things are not allowed, right?

What is said OOCly is kept OOCly! Even if you really, really love your character and someone OOCly informed you that their character was going to brutally murder yours in an elaborate trap, you do not use information you gained OOCly as IC information! Work something out with the other player OOCly and try to resolve something.

While your skills, levels, stats, items, gears and cards are OOC to a certain extent (that is, unless you acquired them through role playing), custom/donation items, godly items (such as Sleipnir and Mjollnir) and MVP cards are strictly OOC. Also role playing with yourself all alone doesn’t count as role playing. If your character is a High Priest they can raise a powerful Magnus Exorcismus, however the fact that it may kill an amount of 5-6 undead doesn't mean that it will ICly kill an MVP in one blow. Take into consideration the amount of power you’re allowing your character to have. Are they able to easily move huge boulders, or do some anime stunt and jump 8 feet into the air and slash a dragon’s head off in one swipe? Then you’re probably power gaming. The essence of role playing is bringing out the best of your ability to express who your character is as an interesting and intriguing person, without resorting to using physical traits such as godly beauty or inhuman strength or other unnecessary frills. The keyword here is: realistic

Thought Projection

Thought Projection is when you ICly say what the character is thinking either through @me command or in [[ ]] brackets. Even though this is allowed, it is discouraged to be used negatively means and ways, such as to insult someone else or to hurt someone OOCly on purpose. You can express thoughts about a certain situations however not a personal opinion about the character that is being interacted with, which are thoughts that another character can never react to as no one on Advent can obtain mind-reading.

Wiki Rules

Contribution to the Wiki

We regretfully inform you that contribution to the wiki is not allowed except for Profile Pages and the Library of Lore.

The profile pages are player-made pages that contains description of characters that exist within Advent. Feel free to make your own! This is not a must to do of course, only optional!

The Library of Lore contains pages that are mostly legends and several individual information regarding certain events and elements in the game. You are free to make your own to a certain degree; it is advised that the information is first passed on to Audrey-Tifa so that there will not be any mishaps or discords with the setting of Advent.

N.B.: If you have an idea about, say, a piece of history of a particular place or what could be done to improve a page, we are all ears! Contact Audrey-Tifa in order to discuss further, however please don't take it personally if it gets refused; after all not everything can be put in as the setting is a fixed one.

Protect and take care of your source of information

We ask of you in order to report any broken links that are found within the wiki. Of course some pages may not be created yet, so if you wish to know a piece of information that is not yet available in the wiki, contact Audrey-Tifa in the forums or on IRC when she is available.

Vandalization of any information in the wiki, player page or ST page alike, will have its consequences. We put our utmost effort to type the pages in order for you as a player to have easy access and a clean format in order to read them thoroughly and clearly, so please we ask you to keep them as they are. You are allowed to edit your own pages of course!